If you listen to sensible people, the Olympics is a quadrennial celebration in which the greatest athletes on the planet compete against one another in the search for eternal glory, and so on and so forth.
But success comes in many forms, and winning the collective admiration of the internet is just as important as taking home a medal. From the minute Snoop Dogg inexplicably touched down in Paris, these Games have served up some truly memorable (and meme-able) moments, while also introducing us to a batch of breakout stars with names such as Pommel Horse Guy or Turkish John Wick.
With the competition still under way, there remains time for a new challenger to emerge, but these are the current contenders to win the internet Olympics.
Some of the viral stars from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Oh, and Snoop Dogg.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
Yusuf Dikec: The Turkish John Wick
Who could have predicted that the enduring image of the Paris Games would be a 51-year-old Turkish man wearing a white T-shirt and no protective gear? Stepping up to compete in the final of the mixed team 10-metre air pistol, Yusuf Dikec looked more like a disgruntled geography teacher than a man about to win a silver medal.
Eschewing all the paraphernalia other shooters normally wear – visors, chunky ear defenders and special shooting lenses – Dikec kept it old school. With one hand in his pocket, he casually fired his way to immortality while endearing himself to the online masses.
Dikec’s pose has already become so iconic that Swedish sensation Armand Duplantis recreated it after breaking the world record for pole vaulting.
Kim Yeji: South Korea’s cyberpunk
“Main character energy” is really the only way to describe South Korea’s Kim Yeji. Perhaps the only person capable of matching Dikec’s aura, Yeji was competing in the women’s 10-metre air pistol shooting event when she rocked up looking like a Bond Villain.
Dressed in all black, with a backward cap, an adorable elephant keychain, and futuristic shooting glasses, Kim’s swagger was precisely what the occasionally sterile Olympics had been missing.
Stephen Nedoroscik: The pommel horse guy
Are there three funnier words than “pommel horse guy”? This was the moniker given to Stephen Nedoroscik, the unassuming 25-year-old American gymnast who specialises in the pommel horse. He became a viral star after cameras captured him appearing to fall asleep while waiting hours for his event.
Sleep long, sweet prince.Credit: NBC
Nedoroscik’s micro-sleep proved he was just like the rest of us, except that when he woke up, he proceeded to win a bronze medal for his country. Long live pommel horse guy.
Anthony Ammirati: Insert pole gag
Pole vaulting is literally all ups and downs, but no one knows that better than French athlete Anthony Ammirati. He failed to clear 5.7m – and thus failed to qualify for the final – because of what appeared to be a large bulge in his tight pants.
Ammirati spectacularly crashed out of the event, inspiring headlines such as “Athlete who hit bar with penis speaks out” and “French pole vaulter becomes instant star after his own penis denies him an Olympic medal”. He may not have technically won anything, but it’s safe to say he’s hardly going home a loser (plus he has added thousands of followers on Instagram).
Snoop Dogg: The OG in Paree
If there were a gold medal for attending events, then Snoop Dogg would be an absolute shoo-in. The rapper is in Paris as a special correspondent for NBC and has wasted no time making his presence felt. Snoop has been spotted at the swimming, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball and, most memorably, joining Martha Stewart to check out the equestrian events.
Snoop went viral for his stunned reaction to Simone Biles at the gymnastics.Credit: Getty
When asked by NBC why his presence had been so successful, Snoop Dogg gave the most Snoop Dogg answer of all time: “I’m just out here just being Snoop Dogg; that’s what I know how to do the best.”
Simone Biles: The comeback kid
Simone Biles was already famous before the Paris Games, but the way in which she has bounced back after struggling with her mental health has won the 11-time Olympic medallist a whole new legion of fans.
Biles has hardly put a foot wrong in Paris, even finding time to clap back at ex-teammate MyKayla Skinner, who criticised the team’s work ethic in the lead-up to the Olympics.
All of Australia: Because Girt
Much has been made about Australia’s impressive performance in Paris, with our relatively small nation continuing to punch above its weight. Our domination in the pool led to social media users from overseas asking why Australians seemed to be so gifted in sports, particularly in events such as swimming. Australians wasted no time in explaining the secret behind our success: we are girt.
A reference to the lyric “girt by sea” from the national anthem, the Girt movement quickly took off online, no doubt confusing people from every other country besides this one.
Find more of the author’s work here. Email him at thomas.mitchell@smh.com.au or follow him on Instagram at @thomasalexandermitchell and on Twitter @_thmitchell.
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